Roster Move: Cubs bring back former Cubs pitcher Colin Rea |
To say the vibes around the Chicago Cubs right now are bad would be an understatement. Not only did they fail to reach a deal with Kyle Tucker, but it also looks like an arbitration hearing will be coming. To make matters worse, it now seems like Roki Sasaki will be going elsewhere. That was expected across MLB, but up until now, you still had a feeling that the Cubs were not only in on Sasaki but also had very good chances to get him.
Instead of waiting around for Sasaki to pick someone else potentially, the Cubs knew they had to add at least one more arm to their rotation, which it appears they have done. According to reports from Jesse Rogers himself, the Cubs and righty-hander Colin Rea have agreed on a one-year contract worth five million dollars. The full details of that contract will be released once the deal is made public. Still, it does appear a former Cub is returning to the organization with the hopes of taking over the No. 5 spot in the rotation from Javier Assad. The big 6-5 righty has had quite an MLB journey, and now, at 34 years old, he is simply looking to remain in this league any way he can. Once a top prospect in the San Diego Padres system, Rea showed plenty of potential, even if the results weren't always there. He was the definition of a .500 pitcher during his time with the Padres, posting a 12-12 record across three seasons with an ERA approaching the 4.62 range. It was the 2017 season when his career took a turn for the worse. He missed the 2017 season with a shoulder injury and could never recover. It got to the point where many wondered if Rea would ever step foot on a major league mound again, as he didn't appear in a single MLB game across three seasons. He did, however, perform well enough in the minors during that time, especially during the 2019 season, when he posted a 14-4 record with the Iowa Cubs. That season alone is worth noting, as the Cubs elected to bring him back for the 2020 season only to have COVID take away the entire minor league season. All was not lost for Rea as he reached the majors later that season, and the rest is history. Following his run with the Cubs, Rea bounced between the Brewers and Japan, but he has been on the Brewers the past two seasons, including the 2023 season with Craig Counsell. After going 6-6 in 2023 with an ERA in the mid-4s, Rea went on to have the best season of his career in 2024 and, at one point, was the best pitcher on the staff. After starting the season 5-1 with an ERA hovering around 2.90, things started to trend the opposite way, but he still managed to post a career-high 12 wins to go with six losses. That pushes his career record to 26-20 across his MLB career with an ERA in the 4.4 range. Looking at not only his success last season but also his success with Counsell in 2023 has given you the feeling that he was comfortable in the situation Counsell put him in and wanted another opportunity to pitch for him. Never much of a hard thrower, Rea was a guy who sat around 96 MPH before the shoulder injuries and was then forced to remake his career. Although it took him some time to get back to form, Rea not only turned his career around but has emerged into a reliable arm you can count on every fifth day. With a fastball that sits in the 93-94 MPH range and a sharp-breaking curveball, Rea has two go-to pitches from which he can spin at any point in the count. He mixes in a change-up to go with those pitches and is a ground ball machine when he is on. As good as he was last season, there were some struggles, with most of those struggles coming from the long ball, which the Cubs will look to work with him on this season. His addition gives the Cubs another pitcher to add to the starting pitching competition, as the Cubs currently have six starters expected to see significant time. Rea seems destined to take over the fifth spot in the rotation, which would push Assad to the pen.
